Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez has had a difficult year. He lost two of his three fights - one to Mitsuhiro Ishida and another to Josh Thomson. Those were the first two losses of his MMA career.

Now, Melendez is preparing to get back in the cage in the not-so-distant future.

“You’ll see me before the end of the year,” said Melendez, “I have a lot to improve in the meantime so you’ll see a much better fighter the next time out.”

At only 26, it is not far-fetched to believe that Melendez will quickly get back into the rankings as one of the best lightweights in the world. He hopes that will happen with his current organization although he stopped short of guaranteeing it.

“I have one fight left with Strikeforce, and I like them a lot,” Melendez said, “Maybe they’ll be in my future, but we’ll have to see.”

He really needs to perform well this fight. He has looked very sluggish in his last few outings, especially in the Thompson fight he looked like he was moving underwater. Last fight on the contract so if he can take out a high profile opponent he could be looking at a big payday. If not he's probably going to have to resign with Strikeforce.